Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe (with Hot Frosting) + Video
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Chocolate Fudge Cake is extra gooey and decadent, and totally easy to make. It’s ready in just 30 minutes for a last-minute dessert or late-night craving. Top with a fudgy homemade icing and try not to keep it all to yourself!
Get ready to be obsessed with all the chocolate flavor of this cake. It’s perfect for any chocolate lover, and a great way to bake a moist chocolate cake right at home.
This is not only the best chocolate cake recipe in terms of flavor, but I love that it uses simple ingredients as well.
The whole recipe creates the ultimate chocolate fudge cake that does the perfect job of curbing chocolate cravings.
You could easily make this for a special occasion or create this fudgy chocolate cake for a fun weekend treat.
I love to pair this rich chocolate cake with a hot cup of coffee and have a slice for breakfast – because I’m an adult, and that’s part of the perks!
Life’s too short to eat chocolate desserts only at night, am I right?
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Fluffy, fudgy, and oh-so-gooey, you’ll want to make this fudge cake again and again!
It’s so easy to throw together, even the kids can help. Plus, it makes a full sheet pan so there’s plenty for guests or leftovers.
Serve slices on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For a fancy touch, add a swirl of whipped cream and some sprinkles!
Recipe Video
If you love chocolate cake as much as I do, I have a few more recipes you’ll need to try soon.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake starts with a fluffy cake and ends with decadent peanut butter whipped cream.
Or, my go-to simple chocolate cake that’s made with just one bowl!
If you love copycat recipes, you will want to try this Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake. Your whole family will want seconds!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Flour – All-purpose is the best choice, and most people already have some in their pantry! This fudge cake recipe would also work with a gluten-free 1-to-1 substitute.
- Milk and Vinegar – When combined, these ingredients make an easy buttermilk substitute.
You could replace both of these ingredients in the cake batter with 1/2 cup of buttermilk if you have some on hand. - Sweetened Cocoa Powder – I prefer Ghirardelli sweet ground cocoa, but Nestle or Hershey’s Special Dark are great substitutes.
- Baking Soda and Powder – You’ll need both leavening agents in this chocolate fudge cake recipe to get enough lift in the oven.
How to Make Chocolate Fudge Icing
Combine butter, milk, and cocoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat so the milk doesn’t scald.
Note: You could swap the milk for half and half or heavy cream for an even richer topping.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Then, beat with a mixer until well combined.
Let the icing cool for a few minutes, then spread it evenly over your chocolate fudge cake!
Fudge Cake Recipe Notes
- Prevent sticking. Use the butter and flour method to coat your baking pan. You can also mix some cocoa powder in with the flour if you’d like!
- Use room temperature ingredients. A must with baking, this ensures your batter comes together easily and remains lump free.
- Add extra flavor. Spread a layer of creamy peanut butter over the fudge cake before adding the chocolate fudge icing.
Or, mix your favorite chopped nuts into the frosting! - Let the icing cool. This gives it a chance to thicken up naturally, making it easier to spread over the cake’s surface without soaking in.
If you make the frosting ahead of time, just store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
You can then sit it at room temperature for a short time to make it more spreadable with a rubber spatula.
You can also line your cake pan with parchment paper if you’re worried about it sticking.
I do this sometimes when I’m baking layer cakes because I want them to lay flat on another without any bumps.
Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe FAQ
Chocolate cake will typically be light and fluffy, whereas chocolate fudge cake is denser and a bit more moist.
The texture and flavor are somewhere between a piece of cake and a fudgy brownie.
Not at all. This dessert is plenty sweet and fudgy without it, so feel free to skip it.
If you still want some sort of topping, a light dusting of powdered sugar would be pretty!
I like the flavor of the chocolate fudge frosting but have fun using whatever you want. A simple chocolate sauce on top of the cake would be yummy as well!
You can also skip making it altogether and just buy the best chocolate frosting brand that you like at the store. Just be sure that you let the cake cool before adding frosting of it will all melt down into the center of the cake. This creates moist crumbs and bites, but the frosting will melt in and right off if the cake or cake layers are too hot!
This fudge cake recipe uses sweetened cocoa. If you cannot find sweetened cocoa, unsweetened is fine — the chocolatey flavor just won’t be quite as rich.
Semi-sweet chips will also add the best flavor to your chocolate cake, and they melt more evenly than dark.
If you want a triple chocolate cake, you can always replace half of the semi-sweet chips with milk or dark chocolate chips!
You bet. This cake is simple to make. I do recommend that you follow the recipe card the first time that you make it, but then you can have fun and change the original recipe and try new things.
A lot of people will add hot coffee or instant coffee into the cake for a burst of caffeine and flavor. You could also use mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, and more! However you want to create it, it will make the best chocolate fudge cake for you and your house!
Storing Leftover Fudge Cake
Because both the cake and the chocolate fudge icing contain dairy, leftovers will need to be kept in the refrigerator.
Wrap the entire pan tightly with plastic wrap and enjoy within 2 days — but, I don’t find that our leftovers last anywhere near as long as that!
You can also freeze chocolate fudge cake for up to 3 months.
- Slice it up, then freeze the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Once solid (after about an hour), wrap each piece in two layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil.
- Stack in a freezer-safe storage container.
Transfer a piece to the refrigerator to thaw overnight when you have a craving!
You can also warm slices of fudge cake in the microwave for a few seconds. It will be extra gooey this way!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Easy Cake Recipes
Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe (with Hot Frosting) + Video
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda, divided
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sweetened cocoa powder, I used Ghirardelli ground chocolate
- 1 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
For icing
- 1/4 cup sweetened cocoa powder, I used Ghirardelli ground chocolate
- 1/4 pound unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9×12 cake pan by buttering and flouring. Set aside.
- In a small cup add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tablespoon vinegar. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, salt and baking powder, stir with a whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan combine butter, cocoa and water. Bring to a boil, then add to flour mixture. Beat well.
- Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to milk mixture. Set aside. In a small bowl combine chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
- Add eggs to flour butter mixture. Then add milk mixture and vanilla. Beat well to combine. Add chocolate chips to mixture and fold in.
- Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
- 5 minutes before cake is done, prepare icing.
For icing
- Bring cocoa, butter and milk to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, salt and vanilla, beat well with mixer. Spread over hot cake. Serve!
Video
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published April 2013, updated and republished July 2024
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Oh wow, your chocolate cake looks so delicious!
I make a similar cake except I poke holes in the cake with a fork, then pour the warm icing over the cake. The icing then seeps down into the cake. I also add cinnamon to both the cake batter and the icing. If your cake is as good as mine, and it looks even better than mine, it is really good.
Hi my cake is in the oven and i hope it comes out as should i noticed you have 2 tsp baking soda then you say add 1 tsp BP to the milk mixture I noticed this after the fact …my cake has 4 mins more so we'll see how that goes .
The other teaspoon of baking powder went in with the dry ingredients. Reread the recipe.
I soooo want to make this!…
when do you add the salt, I figure with the bs and bp, but I didn't see it, so I forgot it. and it takes my oven longer than 20 min. It does smell great!
Yes, it goes in with the dry ingredients. Enjoy!
My girlfriend made this for my birthday. Love it.
just baked it INSANELY CHOCOLATY and more like a pudding, gonna have rest off it with ice cream i think
I made this for my nephews birthday party, and I swear it was gone so fast, it was awesome!
How do you make the Amber color drizzle/cobweb look accents
I was playing with melted sugar that was on its way to caramel. Alton Brown has a great tutorial here: He calls them doodads. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/banana-splitsville-recipe/index.html
what if you only have regular cocoa and not "sweetened". I don't think we have such an animal up here in Canada
You can make sweetened cocoa powder. 1 part cocoa to 2 parts sugar. Mix with whisk. Store extra in an air tight container.
what do yo do if you don't have "sweetened" cocoa? all I have ever seen up here in Canada is plain cocoa.
Use the plain cocoa. With all that sweetness you will not notice the difference. Enjoy and let us know how it goes.
It comes out the same, I been making this cake for years with the regular cocoa. It's the same recipe or another variation of Chocolate Sheet Cake but just in a cake pan. Normally I use buttermilk with my recipe instead of the milk and vinegar (which makes buttermilk) and if you're out of buttermilk it works just as well.
I was just thinking that it is pretty much the same as the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake that I make!
My mother's grandma used to make this cake and it has passed down for generations in our family. This cake is amazing. Ours only differs by adding pecans into the frosting. 🙂
Fantastic! I just made it! Thanks!!
This looks yumm! well Im planning to bake this today but I dont have baking soda. Do you think 2 tsp of baking powder instead of the soda would do ? Thank you.
What did I do wrong? The recipe was followed exactly as written. However, the result was more like a soup…very, very thin and runny. Was baked in a convection oven for 20 minutes and wooden tester came out clean. Icing was very thin as well. Cake was iced while still warm. Photos look tremendous, but was very disappointed in my result.
Hey..I have the same problem with you. After 20 minutes in the oven still watery.
Was the cake cooked through? The icing will be very thin. It will set up as it cools. That is where the "ooey gooey" comes in. Email me if you have any other questions.
Same as Texas sheet cake, been making this 30yr's, also add 1 cup chopped walnut's to cooked frosting ,pour on hot cake, take's while to set, best ever had, also, can take more then 20 min's to bake, just keep checking center to know, pic above look like cut square's stacked , look's better then 1 square……
Have been making this Texas sheet cake for about 40 years. I think my recipe is easier to make. But it is wonderful.
Is this for one 9 inch cake?
Yes, one 9×13 cake.
Or 2 rounds right?
I have made a similiar one but I spread a layer of peanut butter on cake before adding the icing. So good. Gonna try this!
I just finished making this cake but the icing isnt nearly as thick as the one in the picture. Did you double the icing recipe to get it like that? What did you do?
It should thicken as it cools. Let me know if it did that for you.
This cake sounds amazing! Not that I need any more chocolate cake recipes, but I'm pinning this one anyways. I'm just wondering, what is the purpose of mixing the chocolate chips with the flour?
The flour keeps the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom.
Would I have to adjust the sugar if I only use regular cocoa?
oh boy that is INSANE!
What type of vinegar is used in this recipe? White or Apple cider?
My guess is that you would use white vinegar. All the recipes that I've used use white, and it's used to help make the cake fluffier. The apple cider vinegar could make it taste weird.
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